Federal government has been given an ultimatum by the House of Reps to unfreeze National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) account
The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the federal government to unfreeze all accounts of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) within 72 hours to facilitate the smooth resumption of its critical poverty alleviation programmes.
This resolution, adopted on Tuesday, followed a motion sponsored by Deputy Speaker Rep. Benjamin Kalu (APC Abia) and 20 other lawmakers.
The lawmakers emphasized that unfreezing the accounts would facilitate the immediate release of funds needed to pay outstanding stipends to 395,731 N-Power beneficiaries nationwide, totaling over ₦81.3 billion.
The lawmakers also urged President Bola Tinubu to direct relevant ministries to eliminate all administrative bottlenecks hindering the effective operation of NSIPA programmes. It also urged the president to ask relevant authorities to unlock the 42 warehouse of NSIPA across the country .
The resolution is to be forwarded to the senate for concurrence.
Kalu recalled that NSIPA was established under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (establishment) Act, 2023, with the mandate of empowering unemployed persons, vulnerable widows, orphans, children, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable senior citizens, etc.
He said: “the agency oversees critical social intervention programmes such as Grant for Vulnerable Groups, N-Power, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), etc.”
He stressed that the ‘renewed hope agenda’ of the President Tinubu-led Government gives emphasis to the mandate of the NSIPA to cushion the effect of economic shocks on the poor and the vulnerable.
He said despite the programmes of NSIPA being vital for poverty alleviation, youth empowerment, and economic inclusivity in Nigeria, the agency’s functionality has been hindered due to administrative bottlenecks, insufficient funding, and frozen accounts.
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He argued that the effort of the government and the laudable programmes of NSIPA were cut short by alleged financial mismanagement by handlers of the programmes leading to the suspension of programmes and freezing of the agency’s account and subsequent investigation by anti-corruption and security agencies.
He maintained that the smooth operations of the programmes and the fulfillment of the mandate of NSIPA are hindered due to the suspension (freezing) of the accounts of the agency and other administrative bottlenecks, which have remained in force even more than 3 months after the President reconstituted the new management of NSIPA.
He expressed concern that the frozen account contradicts the president’s mandate on poverty alleviation by hindering and halting social welfare programmes, including conditional cash transfers, small business grants, and school feeding initiatives, undermining economic empowerment initiatives; delaying in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and causing erosion of public confidence and administrative paralysis in fighting poverty, among other things.
He said as a result of the suspension of accounts of the NSIPA, the N-Power programme has been so negatively affected that 395,731 beneficiaries are owed outstanding stipends to the tune of N81, 315, 440, 000 (Eighty-One Billion, Three Hundred and Fifteen Million, Four Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira)—a fund already captured under the 2023 and 2024 amended Appropriation Acts, which will lapse by the year ending 31st December 2024.
He argued that restoring NSIPA’s account aligns with the president’s vision, ensuring that poverty alleviation efforts remain effective, efficient, and impactful and that it is essential to act swiftly to resolve this issue to maintain momentum toward the administration’s poverty eradication goals.
